October 21, 2025 • 8 mins
In TLC’s new series, DANGEROUSLY OBESE, individuals attempt to lose weight and reinvent their lives with the help of renowned bariatric surgeon, Dr. Charles Procter, who is well known for his work on TLC’s 1000-LB Sisters and 1000-LB Best Friends. Facing incredible challenges as they work to save their own lives, the series will profile people who have made the brave commitment to undergo bariatric surgery and finally make a change. Featured stories include a mother-daughter duo who have been plagued with obesity for most of their lives, a newly out and proud gay man ready to live life to its fullest, and a former softball player whose career was cut short by her obesity. Each episode will tell a new story, offering an intimate and in-depth look inside the lives of these brave individuals, following them over the course of a year or more to chronicle their deeply personal journeys.Dr. Charles Procter is a board-certified surgeon and the founder of Beltline Health: Weight Loss Solutions, one of the Southeast’s leading centers for bariatric and metabolic surgery. Over the course of his career, he has performed thousands of weight loss procedures and helped pioneer comprehensive care models for overweight and obese patients. Dr. Procter has been invited to speak at national and international surgical meetings and is recognized worldwide as a leader in bariatric surgery, patient safety, and long-term outcomes in obesity care. In addition to his clinical and academic work, he has appeared as a bariatric surgeon on several popular TLC programs, most recently in Dangerously Obese.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, EO, good morning doctor. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
I hope you are doing fantastic. Very excited to share
a conversation with you about dangerously Obese because this has
become our watch in this household. And the reason why
is because the one thing that I've learned about these
shows is that there are steps before the bad days
start to set. In other words, what did we do
wrong in the beginning that triggered those bad days that
(00:25):
really were we started to expand something had to have
happened before that. Do you agree?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I think in some cases yes, absolutely, there's generally some
lifestyle issues in this. But you know, we've got patients
that have been heavy their entire lives, you know, literally
born heavy and don't remember a day where they were
ever a.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Quote unquote normal weight.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
And we've got patients where this sort of sprung up
on them in early adulthood. So there are always lifestyle
decisions that have led into this. But you combine that
with genetics and medications and our and our food supply
out there, it's a bad situation.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
What about those patients that were overweight? And shows sugar free,
sugar free, sugar free and I have learned the hard
way guy, that I've damaged my liver because all of
these sugar free things are putting pressure on my liver.
Now I got to go get blood tests all the time.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You always have to be careful with the things that
you're putting into your body. And I'll be the first
to say that, you know, I wish that there was
a magic formula out there. If I just eat this
and I avoid that, that's going to completely transform my
body and we'll get back to things back to normal again.
Unfortunately biology just doesn't work that way.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So now, is is there one trigger that gets people going?
I mean, because I mean, I mean, what is one
person seeing in their mirror versus what I'm seeing in
my mirror? And I think that's the reason why I'm
so in love with this show, is that you give
us that reality. You're not painting pretty beautiful pictures. What
you're painting is, hey, look here is a situation. Let's
all work on this together.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
And I wish I could point to one cause this
is a multi factorial disease. So what requires a multidisciplinary approach?
You'll see, and I hope it comes across in the show
that this isn't just about surgery, and we take the
placeship to the operating room and the clouds par and
everything gets better again. It's going to require village, if
you will. That means nutritional counseling to understand how to
eat right. So many patients have never even really been
(02:23):
taught that there are psychological issues that are at hand here,
especially in the size of patients that you'll see on
this and another television shows. There's a difference between being
one hundred pounds of overweight and two hundred punds of
aweight versus being six hundred punds overweight. So there's a
lot of psychology that's involved not only with the patient,
but also with their peers and the people who are
(02:43):
helping take care of them. So I hope that we'll
convey that this is a real disease that requires real
science to help it out.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Do you call it a brave commitment, because it really
is a moment of truth and honesty, and through transparency
you'll be able to look at what's going on and
start making choices and changes.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
That's exactly right, and there is not a single formula
that you can approach every single patient with you know,
we have multiple different procedures, we have multiple different avenues
which which we can help patients out. If there were
just a you know, a single formula that helped every
single patient, this would be like a conveyor belt, right.
But you'll see on this television show that every single
patient is a little bit different. Our first episode is
(03:27):
going to be a mother and daughter with very very
different issues, but very real issues that both require a
little bit different approach. So uh, you know, I think
with other television shows in the past have sort of
just said listen, no thing, just yelling his patients and
ridicule them into losing weight. You know that along with
the survey, is going to take care of everything. I
want people to see the human element behind what's going on.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Please do not move. There's more with doctor Charles Proctor
coming up next. The name of the show Dangerously Obese.
We're back with doctor Charles. I'm going to be very
honest and very very transparent with you. In this household,
one person is on ozimpic. I choose not to do ozempic.
I want to do it the real natural way. But
we're both losing and the thing but we're gaining. I
(04:08):
don't want to say that we're losing the war. But
the thing is, though, is that I don't understand how
you do what you do and find focus in what
you do if every one of us out here are
a different puzzle.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And you know, these GLP one medications that you just
mentioned are they've added a great piece of weaponry to
what we have and how we're able to approach these diseases.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Unfortunately, those medications are marketed to literally everybody, and we
generally say that they're usually not the answer to patients
whould otherwise benefit from bariatric surgery, but for people with
lower BMIs.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
They can be very very effective.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
There is seems to be a bell curve where some
people are wildly successful the as medications and some people aren't.
Regardless whether you are trying to lose weight with a
GLP one medication or through traditional diet and exercise, the
recidivism or the weight regain rate is so high ninety
plus percent that that's one of the reasons why these
(05:05):
aren't generally good long term answers for our patients who
are say one hundred and more pounds overweight.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I've lost friends because of this, people who have gone
through the surgery, And I thought I was supposed to
be that friend that was supposed to say, what's going on?
Is there anything I can do to help? I've noticed
you going back to older days and habits, and all
of a sudden, I'm ghosted. And it's like, what is
the best way to handle a situation like this when
you're walking through that storm every day?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Sir? It's a great point.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It's a great point, and people don't want their failures
pointed out right. We are very quick to praise people
when we see that they've lost weight, and we're very
quick to you judge and at least behind their back
when we see that they've regained that weight afterwards. None
of this, the best surgery in the world can't withstand
a bad diet. And I tell my patients that over
and over and over again, which is another reason why
(05:54):
we try to keep that accountability of seeing those patients
for lifelong follow up. Nothing I hate to see more
in the world than somebody who's been wildly successful after
a weight loss surgery or any other type of journey,
and to see them regain that weight. So you know,
what can you say to them? What can they do?
You know, I would like to say, we let's put
that in our hands. Just be there to support them
(06:15):
and let them know that you know, they understand you
understand their journey and that this is a very difficult thing.
And listen, you know sometimes we fall off the forus,
it's all about getting back on.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well, you're not afraid to talk about the mental journey
that goes on because I know that because I've gone
from two eleven to one seventy three. And I'll tell
you once I started hitting the one seventies, I started
freaking out mentally because I am I sick? What's going on?
What's what's happening? What's happening? What are you dealing with
when you're going down one thousand pounds or more?
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Doctor, Well, that's a really interesting thing. I think there
was a universal sentiment among patients when they've had this
massive weight loss. When I say massive one hundred pounds,
two hundred, three hundred, we've had patients lose almost four
hundred pounds, right, and what they'll come back. They're excited
about the weight loss, they're excited about getting new clothed
and all these kind of things, but behind the door
or they'll tell me. You know what, doctor Proctor, I
(07:02):
look in the mirror and I don't see a difference. Yep,
I see the same person that walked in here the
first day. So true and yeah, yeah, And I understand
that that is a universal sentiment. And that's why I
tell people you really need to photo document this journey
all the way along so you can see where you
came from. Keep those pictures, understand this journey that you've
(07:22):
made so you can look back and say, wow, I
really did do this. But it's amazing how that's almost
a universal sentiment among all of our patients.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Well, I just love the fact that you are doing
so well withous dangerously obese. And the reason why is
because you are speaking the street I always call it.
You have dropped the four walls of the church and
you are walking with the people on it. With a
show like this.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Thank you for saying that. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
One of the things that we want to do at
this particular show was get out of the office, get
out of the operating room, and really show not only
the lives of the patients, put us interacting with those
patients outside. Understand these are real people who are living
real lives. And you know this isn't just made for
TV or were making things up. Understand where these folks
are coming from. So I like that angle of it,
and I hope we can keep doing more of that.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Where can people go to find out more about you
and what you are doing, because I don't want people
to watch the episode and then go back to their
old habits.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Sure we can look at us.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Beltline Health is the name of our practice, and we
have a large website that it has a lot of
its teaching. A lot of the videos on there, Doctor
Charlesprocter dot com has a lot of me talking about
the science and behind the disease of OBC and try
to promote a better understanding of this.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, please come back to this show anytime in the future.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Doctor.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
The door is always going to be open for you.
I can relate with where you're going.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Thanks for having me on. It is great talking to
you today.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Okay, I'll do my best.
Hello, EO, good morning doctor. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
I hope you are doing fantastic. Very excited to share
a conversation with you about dangerously Obese because this has
become our watch in this household. And the reason why
is because the one thing that I've learned about these
shows is that there are steps before the bad days
start to set. In other words, what did we do
wrong in the beginning that triggered those bad days that
(00:25):
really were we started to expand something had to have
happened before that. Do you agree?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I think in some cases yes, absolutely, there's generally some
lifestyle issues in this. But you know, we've got patients
that have been heavy their entire lives, you know, literally
born heavy and don't remember a day where they were
ever a.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Quote unquote normal weight.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
And we've got patients where this sort of sprung up
on them in early adulthood. So there are always lifestyle
decisions that have led into this. But you combine that
with genetics and medications and our and our food supply
out there, it's a bad situation.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
What about those patients that were overweight? And shows sugar free,
sugar free, sugar free and I have learned the hard
way guy, that I've damaged my liver because all of
these sugar free things are putting pressure on my liver.
Now I got to go get blood tests all the time.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
You always have to be careful with the things that
you're putting into your body. And I'll be the first
to say that, you know, I wish that there was
a magic formula out there. If I just eat this
and I avoid that, that's going to completely transform my
body and we'll get back to things back to normal again.
Unfortunately biology just doesn't work that way.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So now, is is there one trigger that gets people going?
I mean, because I mean, I mean, what is one
person seeing in their mirror versus what I'm seeing in
my mirror? And I think that's the reason why I'm
so in love with this show, is that you give
us that reality. You're not painting pretty beautiful pictures. What
you're painting is, hey, look here is a situation. Let's
all work on this together.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
And I wish I could point to one cause this
is a multi factorial disease. So what requires a multidisciplinary approach?
You'll see, and I hope it comes across in the show
that this isn't just about surgery, and we take the
placeship to the operating room and the clouds par and
everything gets better again. It's going to require village, if
you will. That means nutritional counseling to understand how to
eat right. So many patients have never even really been
(02:23):
taught that there are psychological issues that are at hand here,
especially in the size of patients that you'll see on
this and another television shows. There's a difference between being
one hundred pounds of overweight and two hundred punds of
aweight versus being six hundred punds overweight. So there's a
lot of psychology that's involved not only with the patient,
but also with their peers and the people who are
(02:43):
helping take care of them. So I hope that we'll
convey that this is a real disease that requires real
science to help it out.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Do you call it a brave commitment, because it really
is a moment of truth and honesty, and through transparency
you'll be able to look at what's going on and
start making choices and changes.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
That's exactly right, and there is not a single formula
that you can approach every single patient with you know,
we have multiple different procedures, we have multiple different avenues
which which we can help patients out. If there were
just a you know, a single formula that helped every
single patient, this would be like a conveyor belt, right.
But you'll see on this television show that every single
patient is a little bit different. Our first episode is
(03:27):
going to be a mother and daughter with very very
different issues, but very real issues that both require a
little bit different approach. So uh, you know, I think
with other television shows in the past have sort of
just said listen, no thing, just yelling his patients and
ridicule them into losing weight. You know that along with
the survey, is going to take care of everything. I
want people to see the human element behind what's going on.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Please do not move. There's more with doctor Charles Proctor
coming up next. The name of the show Dangerously Obese.
We're back with doctor Charles. I'm going to be very
honest and very very transparent with you. In this household,
one person is on ozimpic. I choose not to do ozempic.
I want to do it the real natural way. But
we're both losing and the thing but we're gaining. I
(04:08):
don't want to say that we're losing the war. But
the thing is, though, is that I don't understand how
you do what you do and find focus in what
you do if every one of us out here are
a different puzzle.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And you know, these GLP one medications that you just
mentioned are they've added a great piece of weaponry to
what we have and how we're able to approach these diseases.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Unfortunately, those medications are marketed to literally everybody, and we
generally say that they're usually not the answer to patients
whould otherwise benefit from bariatric surgery, but for people with
lower BMIs.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
They can be very very effective.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
There is seems to be a bell curve where some
people are wildly successful the as medications and some people aren't.
Regardless whether you are trying to lose weight with a
GLP one medication or through traditional diet and exercise, the
recidivism or the weight regain rate is so high ninety
plus percent that that's one of the reasons why these
(05:05):
aren't generally good long term answers for our patients who
are say one hundred and more pounds overweight.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I've lost friends because of this, people who have gone
through the surgery, And I thought I was supposed to
be that friend that was supposed to say, what's going on?
Is there anything I can do to help? I've noticed
you going back to older days and habits, and all
of a sudden, I'm ghosted. And it's like, what is
the best way to handle a situation like this when
you're walking through that storm every day?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Sir? It's a great point.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It's a great point, and people don't want their failures
pointed out right. We are very quick to praise people
when we see that they've lost weight, and we're very
quick to you judge and at least behind their back
when we see that they've regained that weight afterwards. None
of this, the best surgery in the world can't withstand
a bad diet. And I tell my patients that over
and over and over again, which is another reason why
(05:54):
we try to keep that accountability of seeing those patients
for lifelong follow up. Nothing I hate to see more
in the world than somebody who's been wildly successful after
a weight loss surgery or any other type of journey,
and to see them regain that weight. So you know,
what can you say to them? What can they do?
You know, I would like to say, we let's put
that in our hands. Just be there to support them
(06:15):
and let them know that you know, they understand you
understand their journey and that this is a very difficult thing.
And listen, you know sometimes we fall off the forus,
it's all about getting back on.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well, you're not afraid to talk about the mental journey
that goes on because I know that because I've gone
from two eleven to one seventy three. And I'll tell
you once I started hitting the one seventies, I started
freaking out mentally because I am I sick? What's going on?
What's what's happening? What's happening? What are you dealing with
when you're going down one thousand pounds or more?
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Doctor, Well, that's a really interesting thing. I think there
was a universal sentiment among patients when they've had this
massive weight loss. When I say massive one hundred pounds,
two hundred, three hundred, we've had patients lose almost four
hundred pounds, right, and what they'll come back. They're excited
about the weight loss, they're excited about getting new clothed
and all these kind of things, but behind the door
or they'll tell me. You know what, doctor Proctor, I
(07:02):
look in the mirror and I don't see a difference. Yep,
I see the same person that walked in here the
first day. So true and yeah, yeah, And I understand
that that is a universal sentiment. And that's why I
tell people you really need to photo document this journey
all the way along so you can see where you
came from. Keep those pictures, understand this journey that you've
(07:22):
made so you can look back and say, wow, I
really did do this. But it's amazing how that's almost
a universal sentiment among all of our patients.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Well, I just love the fact that you are doing
so well withous dangerously obese. And the reason why is
because you are speaking the street I always call it.
You have dropped the four walls of the church and
you are walking with the people on it. With a
show like this.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Thank you for saying that. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
One of the things that we want to do at
this particular show was get out of the office, get
out of the operating room, and really show not only
the lives of the patients, put us interacting with those
patients outside. Understand these are real people who are living
real lives. And you know this isn't just made for
TV or were making things up. Understand where these folks
are coming from. So I like that angle of it,
and I hope we can keep doing more of that.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Where can people go to find out more about you
and what you are doing, because I don't want people
to watch the episode and then go back to their
old habits.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Sure we can look at us.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Beltline Health is the name of our practice, and we
have a large website that it has a lot of
its teaching. A lot of the videos on there, Doctor
Charlesprocter dot com has a lot of me talking about
the science and behind the disease of OBC and try
to promote a better understanding of this.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Well, please come back to this show anytime in the future.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Doctor.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
The door is always going to be open for you.
I can relate with where you're going.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Thanks for having me on. It is great talking to
you today.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Okay, I'll do my best.
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